Sunday, July 19, 2026 - VBS Present for Us and Eachother
July 19, 2026
Deborah Laforet
“Present For Us and For Each Other”
Let us pray. May the words from my lips and the meditations of my heart be guided by your
Spirit and be words of wisdom for this day. Amen.
First I’d like to set the stage for you. At our summer camp this week, we had an alien, named
EP3-20, crash land right here in our sanctuary. Luckily there was no damage except to EP3’s ship. EP3
had intentionally come to earth to learn about this planet and it’s people because EP3’s planet was dying
and they needed to find a new home.
Landing in a church meant EP3 got to learn a bit about the Christian faith. We taught EP3 a bit
about our God and how our God teaches us to love and respect each other. And while EP3 was fixing
the ship, the rest of us engaged with our bible stories and with our theme through storytelling, crafts,
games, science, and songs. On the last day, when we learned about hope, EP3 decided to return home
and work with those on his planet to try and save EP3’s world, hopefully being able to save the planet
and live there.
We taught EP3 several of our bibles stories. We shared the story of Noah and the ark and about
the rainbow that God left for us after the great flood, which now is often used as a symbol of diversity,
beauty, and unconditional love. We heard the story of Daniel in the lion’s den and his courage to
practice his faith when the Babylonian king made it against the law. We heard about the friends who
cared so much for their paralyzed friend that, in order to get around the crowds surrounding Jesus,
lowered their friend through a roof to get to Jesus and be healed. We also heard one of the resurrection
stories of Jesus, where he appeared to his disciples on the beach and had breakfast with them.
The story we heard today was the story of the Good Samaritan, a story of love and compassion,
but especially a story about having love and compassion for someone you might consider an enemy and
a story about receiving that love and compassion from someone you might consider an enemy.
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Throughout these stories we heard about God’s love for us, through promises and rainbows,
protection from lions, and in the healing Jesus offered, but we also heard how we are to share that love
with our neighbours. Jesus asked Peter three times, “Do you love me?” Each time when Peter said yes,
Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.” We are commanded in our faith to love our neighbour, unconditionally.
Yesterday, I put nine youth on the train to Ottawa, six of them connected to St. Pauls. They were
all heading to GO Camp. GO Camp is the United Church’s version of a mission trip. Rather than take
youth out of the country to see poverty and need, we invite them to see the need in our own country and
in our own communities. While in Ottawa, these youth will visit places and agencies that are serving the
community in a variety of ways, possibly through food programs, housing, advocacy, and more. I’m
hoping they will get to share some of their experiences with you when they return.
The fact is that many of us don’t know what it looks like to serve our community or even know
the needs of our community. Sometimes when we do learn or even see the need, we feel helpless and
unsure of what we can do. Even in Oakville, one of the wealthiest communities in Canada, there are a
lot of people in crisis. How can we, like the Good Samaritan in our story, offer water, bandage wounds,
and ensure there is care until it's not needed anymore. I think we can often be good at feeding and
bandaging, but not so great at longterm assistance and support.
A wise person told me this week that, “Jesus uplifts, affirms, and centres others that were not of
His faith as heroes of his stories, as a way of pointing to God’s desire for us to learn from those who are
unlike us and not get stuck in thinking we can only learn from teachers and people of our own faith.”
It's why we need to invite other people into our pulpit so that you’re not only hearing one voice. It's why
we need to invite in those who are not of our faith, not of our culture, and who don’t have our privilege.
When we move into our new space in September, the hope is that we will share space with a
variety of people who are meeting a variety of needs in our community. If we remain open to what they
can teach us, the St. Paul’s community will be transformed. We will begin to understand the needs of
our community and maybe we’ll feel a little less helpless when it comes to trying to meet those needs.
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We might learn how we can be a part of that work, a part of the work of our community, and create a
space where people can have their needs met and find belonging, love, and compassion.
Our bible stories, as we taught EP3, teach us how to love God, and how to love our neighbour.
The story Jesus shares of the Good Samaritan, teaches us that that love goes beyond those we consider
our neighbours, to those we might consider our enemies, to all people in need, and beyond just feeding
and bandaging..
Now, I always try and keep my VBS sermons short, so I'll wrap up with a story. During VBS, if
we have enough volunteers, I get to be a floater. I help with snack, I put out fires, I clean up messes, and
I keep up with my emails and plan worship for Sunday, but it also means I don’t get as much one on one
time with the children. In years when I’m leading one of the workshops every morning, I connect with
each child and know most everyone’s names by the third day. As a floater, I don’t get to learn every
child’s name and don’t get the connection with each child that I like. This year I was a floater, which is
why I was surprised on Friday afternoon when a small child came up to me and wrapped her arms
around me. Just because. Twice.
I was touched by this show of affection by a small child whose name I didn’t even know. Love
comes in a variety of ways and in unexpected ways. You can find it in the usual places and the unusual.
It surrounds us at all times, even when it feels so very far away.
May we know that God’s love surrounds us, and that we are filled with that love, so much so,
that it has the ability to spill out and touch everyone we encounter. May the teachings of Jesus guide us
as we love our neighbours and our enemies, and may the Spirit give us wisdom as we live out that love.
May it be so. Amen.